Koush’s Mirror to Chrome now works with any device

Google has just added Android screen mirroring to Chromecast last month, but what if you didn't have the streaming HDMI dongle and only wanted to mirror to your computer? Koushik "Koush" Dutta's AllCast app and receiver duo might be your savior, but only if you had a Nexus 5. Soon, however, it will work with almsot any Android device you have in your hand.

AllCast is Koush's all in one Android streaming solution, encompassing both streaming select pieces of media to mirroring the whole screen. Last May, Koush announced a Chrome browser extension of his AllCast Receiver, which basically meant turning any computer into a makeshift Chromecast plus TV combo. In theory, you would be able to send your media or your screen to Chrome running on any computer (as long as they're on the same network of course). In practice, however, it's not so simple.

Due to technical issues, Koush ended up using the WebRTC protocol as well as the VP8 codec for mirroring to the Chrome browser. As he mentioned in his fiddling with the Fire TV port of his receiver app, WebRTC's performance was quite slow. But even more than that, the WebRTC/VP8 combo practically meant that only the Nexus 5 was supported, which severely limited its reach. Now, however, Koush rewrote the Mirror to Chrome feature on top of Broadway.js, a Javascript (technically, a C converted to Javascript) h264 decoder. By doing so, he is able to remove the WebRTC/VP8 requirement, meaning that the mirroring feature will be able to work almost any device.

Koush notes that there is still a bit of lag, which means it's far from perfect yet, though that's not really unexpected. Given how those apps are available for free and doesn't require the purchase of new hardware, it might not be a bad tradeoff. That said, this new feature does require an update to the app and Koush has not yet indicated when he will be pushing that out.

SOURCE: +Koush

Story Timeline

• AllCast gets mirroring support on Amazon Fire TV


• AllCast Receiver is now also a Chrome browser extension


• Chromecast finally gets Android screen mirroring


• MirrorEnabler mirrors any device screen to Chromecast

Kiwi for Android Wear controls smartphone with gestures

If it’s always been your dream to control your smartphone with Jedi mind tricks, well you’re one step closer to that with a new app for your smartwatch. Kiwi for Android Wear allows you to control your smartphone through your wearable device not by actually touching it but through hand gestures that are set for specific actions. Yes, just a wave of your hand can now let you use your gadgets even without taking it out of your bag or pocket.

But don’t think that you can make your phone do whatever you want just like a Jedi master. For now, the gestures and resulting actions are fairly limited. You can set a hand gesture to dismiss calls that you don’t want to take by swiping left or right. You can also use a karate chop or an upper cut (maybe you need to study karate or some sort of martial arts before using this) to play, pause or skip tracks when using your phone’s music player.

While it is indeed a great app to have (if you have a smartwatch running on Android Wear, like the LG G Watch or Samsung Gear Live, and soon the Moto 360), as we said, the functions are still fairly limited at this point. It also might not be compatible yet with Google Music if your smartphone is running on Android 4.4.4 already. But as the developer said, they will be coming up with more actions and motions soon.

So if you feel like doing some awesome mind control tricks on your smartwatch and smartphone (just make sure you’re not in public to avoid actually hitting people), get the Kiwi for Android Wear app. You can get it for free through the Google Play Store.

Sony Xperia M2 Kitkat update now rolling out

The firmware update that will push Sony’s midrange beauty – the Xperia M2 – to Android 4.4.2 KitKat is now rolling out, though it has been noted that the update applies to a limited few so far. The Xperia M2 launched in February with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, although with its robust specs, it was expected that Sony would update to KitKat sooner or later.

The update seems to be confined to the D2303 LTE variant at this point. This international model is available in France, Ireland, Israel, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. No updates have been spotted for the D2305 and D2306 variants, as well as the Xperia M2 Dual models. But we assume owners of those models would probably wait just a small amount of time before the update for their phones roll out.

The KitKat update on the Xperia M2 should bring a handful of new features and improvements to the handset, including several performance improvements, and a new navigation bar and task bar. The update also brings cloud print support, and improved SMS capabilities – like being able to set the Hangouts app as default for text messaging.

If you’ve received the update, tell us what you think about it in the comments section below. The generous and capable hardware of the Xperia M2 should be able to handle it, we think. But do tell us if there are any hiccups we – and the rest of the world – should know about.

VIA: Xperia Blog

Story Timeline

• Sony goes mid-range: Announcing the Xperia M2


• Sony pushes Kitkat update to Xperia E1, E1 Dual


• Xperia Z2 in seabed for 6 weeks, still works after "rescue"

MIUI v6 launched, goes flat and simple

Xiaomi has just released a major overhaul of its custom ROM, MIUI version 6. Calling it "visually stunning, stunningly simple", the Chinese manufacturer has opted to drop the aging skeumorphic design of the past decade and embraced the more minimalistic and flatter look. Just in time to catch up with iOS' own transition to the new design language.

Those who criticize Samsung's TouchWiz for being bloated and heavily modified should probably try to take a peek at MIUI and see how TouchWiz might look a tad less insane compared to it. To be honest, it is almost difficult to identify MIUI as an Android skin. In fact, one could probably say it looks closer to iOS than Android, which might have been the goal, of course. Or to be exact, it looks closer to iOS 6 and earlier, back when Apple, during Jobs' tenure, aimed for a visual appearance that mimicked the physical objects they represented. But Apple has gone away from that aesthetic and now MIUI has too.

MIUI 6 now adopts the minimalistic and flat design that is becoming pervasive in both mobile and web skins. Gone are the 3D buttons and raised icons, replaced by a more toned-down design and, in some cases, just text that are almost unidentifiable as interactive buttons. MIUI still sticks to the predominantly orange color scheme though, which serves to distinguish it a bit from certain similar themes and designs. Of course, Apple doesn't have the monopoly of flat design and Android itself has progressively been adopting such a language, especially with the most recent Material Design. That said, MIUI 6 doesn't even come close to adopting those principles and it is clearly evident that they are going their own route, which may not be a bad thing as far as its fans are concerned.

The new version of the custom Android experience of course also brings some behavioral changes. The notification center, quick toggles, and search are now available from anywhere via gestures, even inside apps and the lockscreen. Power saving modes have been introduced, with options to schedule which modes are active at which times. The Mi Browser now syncs to the Mi Cloud so that you can seamlessly switch browsing between Xiaomi devices. The Phone app has also been given some teeth, allowing users to identify and block unwanted calls.

MIUI 6 is, of course, primarily available for Xiaomi's smartphones, particularly the Mi 3 and the newly announced Mi 4. The ports for supported devices haven't been updated yet and still remain at v5 and the MiHome Launcher has not yet been updated to this new visual style. It isn't known if or when these other download options will be available with MIUI 6.

SOURCE: MIUI

China’s got the ‘PlayStation phones’ that Sony never made

At present, it looks like Sony is giving up on the “Xperia Play” concept, depriving us of a current gen “PlayStation phone” that we all would want. But for those who will go hardcore to find something like that, you only need a friend in China to buy you either 78point or Much’s gaming phones – they are from the same OEM so they basically have the same hardware.

78point’s P01 and Much’s W1 are pretty much the same, only different in the Android 4.2 interfaces that they carry. The PSP-like phones have MediaTek's 1.7GHz octa-core MT6592 SoC as its engine, backstopped by 2GB of RAM and Mali-450 graphics. The phone-slash-gaming-console will give you 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 64GB via microSD.

On the phone side of things, the device has an 8MP/2MP camera combo, and has a generous enough 3,000mAh battery – for the games, of course. The devices (the P01 and the W1) also differ in their approach to console emulation – with 78point winning out on this aspect. Its device carries a multi-platform emulator (MAME, PSP, Dreamcast, NDS, GBA, NES, SNES, N64 etc.), while Much just stops at “recommending” emulators.

Both devices weigh in at around 213.8g, a bit lighter than the PS Vita. And at the retail price of USD$330, the device is pretty darned competitive. Now, our only problem seems to be getting a supplier form in country (China) to get us these babies.

VIA: Engadget

Story Timeline

• Sony Xperia PLAY 4G LTE in the works


• Sony releases official ICS beta for Xperia Play


• Sony patent shows Xperia Play with gaming and QWERTY keyboards

A Sneaky Mom App Locks Smartphones and Is an Angsty Teen's Nightmare

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Read more...

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

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